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IMPROVED rsocnss or CURING noes.

o. o. MASON, or nnooKrmLuNEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND LEVIMASON, or oLAYvILLn, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 60,027,":2Z1ited November 27, 1866.

SPECIFICATION.

.ro ALL WHOM IT MAY oononnn:

Beit known that I, Gunisrorusa O. MASON, of the town of Broo kfield, in the county of Madison, and State of New York, have discovered a new and'useful improvement in the Mode of Curing Hops.

The nature of my discovery and improvement consists in. combining and mixing chlorine gas withthe currents of heated air and fumes of I burning sulphur used in the ordinary process of curiugand bleaching hope,

or with the currents of heated air alone, where the bleaching process is not conducted at the same time, in.the manner to be described. The'chlorine gas which I prefer to use is formed of the chloride of lime, prepared alum, known as iPochins aluminous cake, as used by paper makers in the process of bleaching paper stufi, and water, substantially in the manner and of the proportions hereinafter stated.

The gas is formed in the heating room, in'shallow earthen pans, from two to four in number, which are to be placed at some distance apart, the better to disseminate the gas, and just above thestratumof cold air. The temperature of the heating room is first raised to about one hundred and twenty degreesof Fahrenheit, when the chloride of lime and alumiuous cakeare placed in the pans and the water is added. The proportions of chloride of lime should beabout four times by Weight to one of the aluminous cake, and the quantity of both should be about two pounds to eachkiln of five hundred pounds of hops when .dried and cured: The water should be suificieut to saturate-the mass, and when it becomes dry or crusted on the top more water should be added and i the mass stirred. The chlorine gas as it evolves mixes with the upward currents of heatedair and the fumes of the sulphur, if the bleaching process is goingon at the same time, and passes through the hops on the floor above. The application or use of the gas in the manner described is to be continued for about three hours for each kiln full of hops. By .means of the chlorine gas so mixed with the currents of heated air as they ascend to dry the hops, while the aroma of the hops is fully preserved, all deleterious odors are removed, all mould is destroyed, and they 'are' freed from its injurious effects; and if the bleaching process is carried'on at the same time, which it usually is, it is more perfectly performed and thehops are more uniform in appearance and their general condition is in other respects improved. Crude or commercial alum may be used instead of the aluminous cake, and so sulphuric or muriatic acids may be substituted, or the gas may be formed directly from the black oxide'of manganese and common salt and dilute sulphuric acid, or in any of the other Well-known ways or forming chlorine gas. When the gas is formed in any of these several modes, itshpuld be of such strength when mixed with the air 'of the heating room as to be perceptible to'the smell. But the use of .the chloride of l1me andaluminous cake, in the manner described, is preferable, as the operation is simple, and the strength of the gas so formed is known and adapted to the purpose, and there is less liability of committing errors; and besides, the condition of the hops is better than'when the acids are used, especially muriatic acid. Some of these methods, especially that of making the gas directly from manganese and common salt and dilute sulphuric acid,

would be cheaper; but the advantages named exceed this, as the amount-used is small and the cost not great in,

any case. The improvement may also be applied with great advantage in the manner described for removing mould from hops arising from imperfect curing, or which have been injured through dampness or otherwise.

I do not wish to limit myself to'the exact quantity or proportions of the chloride of lime or aluminous cake, for both may be varied somewhat without affecting the beneficial result. But the quantity and proportions and the time of operation stated will answer for all conditions of the hops.

What I 'claim as my discovery, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The improvement iii the process of curing hops, in the manner and by the means substantially asdescribed.

O. O. MASONV Witnesses JoHN-G. GRIOKER, H. D. ALEXANDER. 

